Key-guard



(No Model.)

A. J. LYGN. KEY GUARD.

Patented Oct, 26, 1897.

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ATTORNEYS Vl B WITNESSES NiTnD STATES PATENT :Il

F FICE.

KEY-GUARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 592,300, dated October 26, 1897.

Application iiled October 30,1896. Serial No. 610,587. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ADDISON J. LYON, of Mount Vernon,in the county of Vestchester and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Key-Guard, of which the fol lowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to provide a key-guard capable of being readily applied to any form of a lock, the guard being furthermore so constructed that when applied to a mortised lock the door will not be mutilated, and Vwhereby also the device itself will be entirely concealed by the escutcheon.

Another object of the invention is to provide a key-guard which will be exceedingly simple, durable, and economic and which may be applied to a lock in a convenient and in an expeditious manner.

The invention consists in the novel construction aud combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth,

and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved lguard removed from the lock and viewed from the front. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the improved guard. Fig. 3 is a vertical section through a portion of a door, illustrating the application of the device, which is also in section, to a mortise-lock, the said section being taken substantially on the line 3 3 of Fig. el. Fig. 4. isa front view of a portion of a door to which a mortise-lock is applied, illustrating the escutcheon and the guard as located between the lock and the escutcheon. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section through the guard and through the escutcheon attached thereto; and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a rim-lock, illustrating the application of the improvement thereto.

A flange 10 is secured to the back of a faceplate 11, the said face-plate being provided with a longitudinal opening 12 therein, around which opening the flange 10 is arranged. The iiange may be attached to the faceplate or may constitute an integral portion of the same. A vertical iiange 13 extends within the opening 12 in the face-plate at one side of the opening, and this flange 13 is preferably formed by striking up the metal from the face-plate adjacent to the opening and bending the metal over the opening, as is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, thereby leaving an opening 14 in the face-plate, but

the front Harige 13, which is actually a stoplange, may be otherwise formed if found necessary. Y

At the opposite side of the opening 12 in the face-plate an upper transverse rib 15 is formed on the inner face of the flange 10, and at the bottom of the opening 12 on the same side a parallel rib 16 is formed,while between these two ribs 15 and 16 the knuckles of a stop plate or block 17 are entered, and the stop plate or block is hinged to the face-plate and its iiange 10 by passing a spindle 18 through the knuckles of the stop plate or block and into the upper and lower ribs 15 and 16, as is most clearly illustrated in Fig. 2.

The stop block or plate at its free end is normally held in engagement with the inner face of the stop-fiange 18 by ceiling a spring 19 around the spindle 13, causing one end of the spring to have bearing against the block or plate and the other end against the faceplate or its flange 10. The outer face of the stop plate or block 17 is practically flush with the outer surface of the face-plate 1 1, as shown in Fig. 5.

A handle 20, preferably in the form of a crank-arm, is employed to open the stop plate or block or carry the same inward within the iianged portion 10 of the face-plate. This handle or arm Vusually consists of a vertical member which revolves freely in the central portion of the stop block or plate, being introduced through the bottom thereof, and a horizontal member which is curved and eX- tends outward from the bottom of the stop block or plate in direction of one side of the face-plate. ing the handle or arm in the stop-block is to enable it to readily adjust itself to the opening in thick or thin escutcheons. Thus by pushing inward the outer portion of the handie 2O the stop block or plate will be carried inward, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 5, admitting of the key previously introduced in the lock being taken out or removed from the lock in connection with which the guard is employed. The stop-block is in no manner The object of revolubly mount-l IOO fectually preventing the Withdrawal of the key or the key dropping from the lock by reason of the door being violently closed or receiving a shock from another source. The key can be Withdrawn only after the stopblock has been carried inward by the manipulation of the arm or handle 20, as above stated.

The face-plate 11 may or.l may not be secured to the escutcheon 2l when the device is used in connection Wi-tha mortise-lock or is applied to adoor at that sidfeoppositelwhich they lock is located, itv simply being necessary in appl'yingr the device to insert it in an. opening inthe-door of sufficient size to 'receive the flange. 110,and' the flange fitting snugly in the opening protects the sides of the opening, While the material of the door serves to strengthen the device,and when the escutchi having an opening therein adapted to reg1seon is secu-red; to the-door, as shown: iny Fig. 4,.the devicewill. be'perfectly concealed, since it will be securely held between the escutcheon` and the: opposing surface ofr the door, a portion of the stop plate or block only being visibl'easfit crosses the/keyhole, together with the horizon-tal portion of the handle 20, which is carried out through the bottomv portion of the keyhole in the escutcheon..

as applied to a rim-lock- In this instance the ilange 10n of the faceplate Il is formed onthefnontof the face-plate instead of the back, andl the: hinged' stop 1'7la is located in thelower portionlof the-flange, at the forward edge thereof, instead of between the Walls of t'heopening in the face-place. Bythi's means the face-plate may be secured' directly to the lock by rivets or their equivalents.

Having thus described my invention,` I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1'. 'Ilhe combinationv with a lock, and' its casing, of aspring-controlled stop carried by a support on one side ofV the keyhole and normally extending acrosslsaid keyhole, said I forth.

stop being movable in a plane which is at right angles tothe casifntosvving. away from the keyhole and admit of the insertion of a l key, the spring returning said stop to its normal position after the key has been inserted,

, as set forth.

2. In a lock, a stop hinged at one end to a support and located Within the casing of the 3. A key-guard consisting of a face-plate, a stop' hinged inan opening in lthe said faceplate, spring --controlled in one direction,

means for limiting the outwardmovementof l the stopj-and an` arm mounted to turn in the block and adaptedV for/carrying the stop in- Wardf against the tension of its spring, as and for the purpose speci'iied.

4. A keyguard consisting of a face-plate ter Wit'h` the keyhole of thelock, and als-prin gcontrolled stop hin ged to the'face-platewithin the said opening, a flange surrounding the said opening of the face-plate, and devices,

ysubstantially as described, for limiting the outward movement of the stop and carrying @the said stop inward, as and for the purpose specified.

IinF-ig. 6 I. have illustrated the key-guard face-plate having an opening therein, and a flange surroundingthe said opening at one side of the face-plate, a: stop having a springjcontrolled hinged connection With the faceplate at a` point Within the opening of the 5. A key-guard, the same consisting of a same, a flange limiting the movement of the l stop in one-direction, and a handle extending beyond the face-plate and arranged for carrying the stop inward to permit the Withdrawal. of the key, as and for the purpose set Annison J". LYoN.

Witnesses:

J. FRED. AcKnR, JN0. S. WILLIAMS. 

